EU commissioner Kos dogged by fresh secret police collaborator claims

STRASBOURG — EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos is facing fresh allegations that she collaborated with the Yugoslav secret police in the 1980s, after a member of the European Parliament claimed to have new proof.

The allegations, which came up during the Slovenian commissioner’s confirmation hearing in the Parliament in 2024 and which Kos then denied, have resurfaced ahead of Slovenia’s March 22 election with support from Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s own party.

Slovenian MEP Romana Tomc, a vice president of the center-right European People’s Party — the largest group in the Parliament — said Thursday she had written to the Commission claiming to have fresh evidence that Kos collaborated with Yugoslavia’s spy agency and demanding an investigation.

Tomc told POLITICO Kos was not honest when “claiming that she didn’t collaborate in the secret service … We have to do something with this information.”

A spokesperson for the EPP said: “Romana Tomc has kept the EPP Group closely informed about the latest revelations concerning Commissioner Marta Kos. The Group will examine the matter carefully. For now, we note that Commissioner Kos has not denied these new revelations. The ball is now in her court.”

Kos did not respond to POLITICO’s repeated requests for comment. But a Commission official said Kos “went through the extensive and thorough vetting process” to become a commissioner, adding that the Parliament “approved Commissioner Kos’s appointment in the same process as all 27 Commissioners.”

An official close to the commissioner’s office, who was granted anonymity to speak about the sensitive allegations, told POLITICO: “She [Kos] is very aware political opponents will use these kinds of things to score points in the Slovenian elections, but she is laser-focused on her job as enlargement commissioner.”

Kos will appear before the Parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Monday to discuss enlargement, and is also expected to face questions about the allegations.

At the Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, Tomc presented a book by Slovenian author Igor Omerza showing documents they said proved Kos worked with the Yugoslav spy agency.

The Slovenian MEP’s questions to the Commission include whether the EU executive intends to investigate the claims against Kos and whether further revelations could affect the commissioner’s “credibility.”

“I was never a collaborator or informant of the secret service of Yugoslavia,” Kos told MEPs at her hearing in 2024, calling the allegations “lies” and “disinformation.”

Slovenia heads to a vote later this month, pitting the governing left-liberal coalition, which Kos formerly belonged to, against the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party, to which Tomc belongs. The latter is currently leading in the polls.

Gabriel Gavin contributed to this report from Brussels.